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The high jump is an athletics (track and field) event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without aid of any devices. It has been contested since the Olympic Games of ancient Greece. Over the centuries since, competitors have introduced increasingly more effective techniques to arrive at the current form. Javier Sotomayor(Cuba) is both the indoor and outdoor world record holder in this event with jumps of 2.43 m (8 feet) and 2.45 m (8 feet ½ inch), respectively. Sotomayor's record, set in 1993, is the longest standing in the history of the men's high jump. Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) has held the women's world record since 1987, the longest standing record in overall history of the sport.

History

Performed as early as the Olympics in ancient Greece, the first recorded high jump event took place in Scotland in the 19th century, with heights of up to (1.68 m) contested. Early jumpers used either an elaborate straight-on approach or a scissors technique. In the latter, the bar was approached diagonally, and the jumper threw first the inside leg and then the other over the bar in a scissoring motion. Around the turn of the 20th century, techniques began to modernise, starting with the Irish-American M.F. Sweeney's Eastern cut-off. By taking off as if with the scissors, but extending his back and flattening out over the bar, the Sweeney achieved a more economic clearance and raised the world record to 6' 5⅝" (1.97 m) in 1895.

Another American, M.F. Horine, developed an even more efficient technique, the 'Western roll'. In this style, the bar again is approached on a diagonal, but the inner leg is used for the take-off, while the outer leg is thrust up to lead the body sideways over the bar. Horine increased the world standard to 6' 7" (2.01 m) in 1912. His technique predominated through the Berlin Olympics of 1936, in which the event was won by Cornelius Johnson at 2.03 m (6' 8").

American and Russian jumpers held the playing field for the next four decades, and they pioneered the evolution of the straddle technique. Straddle jumpers took off as in the Western roll, but rotated their (belly-down) torso around the bar, obtaining the most economical clearance to date. Straddle-jumper Charles Dumas broke the elusive 7' (2.13 m) barrier in 1956, and American wunderkind John Thomas pushed the world mark to 2.23 m (7' 3¾") in 1960. Valeriy Brumel took over the event for the next four years. The elegant Soviet jumper radically sped up his approach run, took the record up to 2.28 m (7' 5¾"), and won the Olympic gold medal in 1964, before a motorcycle accident ended his career.

2004 Summer Olympics champion Yelena Slesarenko using Fosbury flopAmerican coaches, including two-time NCAA champion Frank Costello of the University of Maryland, flocked to Russia to learn from Brumel and his coaches. However, it would be a solitary innovator at Oregon State University, Dick Fosbury, who would bring the high jump into the next century. Taking advantage of the raised, softer landing areas by then in use, Fosbury added a new twist to the outmoded Eastern Cut-off. He directed himself over the bar head and shoulders first sliding over on his back and landing in a fashion which would likely have broken his neck in the old sawdust landing pits. After he used this Fosbury flop to win the 1968 Olympic gold medal, the technique began to spread around the world, and soon floppers were dominating international high jump competitions. The last straddler to set a world record was the late Vladimir Yashchenko, who cleared 2.33 m (7' 7¾") in 1977 and then 2.35 m (7' 8½") indoors in 1978.

Procedures and rules

In a competition, the bar is initially set at a relatively low height, and is moved upward in set increments (usually 3 or 5 centimetres, approximately 2 inches, but can be as little as 1 cm for record attempts). Each competitor has the option of choosing at which height they wish to start, as long as the height is greater or equal to the designated starting height for that competition. The starting height is usually determined by the games committee for the competition.

Once a competitor has elected to begin, they receive three attempts at each height and once they clear a height, they are cleared until the next height. Competitors can choose whether or not to attempt subsequent heights. A competitor may choose to pass at a given height or, after failing to clear the bar at a given height, may "pass" on subsequent attempts at that height. Any competitor who records three consecutive misses is out of the competition. The competitor who clears the highest jump is declared the winner. If two or more competitors clear the same maximum height, the competitor with the least number of failed attempts at the best height cleared wins. If these are equal, the winner is the person who has had the least number of failures overall during the competition. If that fails to break a tie for first place, a jump off is conducted.

In a jump off, competitors are given one additional attempt at the last height attempted. If one of the competitors clears the height, they are considered the winner. If both competitors clear the height, the bar is moved up by 2 cm and the process is completed. If both competitors fail the height the bar is moved back down 2 cm. This process is repeated until one competitor clears a height and the other fails. If the final height of the jump off is less than the highest height cleared during regular competition, the highest height cleared during the competition will be recorded for the results. Heights obtained in such a jump off are eligible for records.

The modern high jump bar is made of glass-reinforced plastic or aluminum. Other materials are allowed, but there are weight and sag restrictions. The bar is approximately 4 metres in length (IAAF rules control length for record purposes), with a round, triangular, or square cross-section for most of its length, and two square resting points at each end. It is placed at a measured height on two uprights, or standards, which allow the bar to rest on its ends at a measured height. Cleared heights are reported by measuring from the take-off level to the top edge of the lowest part of the bar. Directly behind the bar is a soft foam mat that allows for a safe landing. Competitors must jump off one foot to clear the bar. Although they may touch the bar in their clearance, the jump is ruled unsuccessful if the bar falls. In rare instances competitors have been allowed to retry an attempt where the bar has fallen. This may occur if the official declares that the bar fell due to external circumstances such as wind, rain or faulty equipment.

High Jump Shoes

High Jump shoes are different from any other Track shoe in that there are an additional three to four holes in the heel where the user can insert spikes for increased traction. Like the pole vault, heel strike in the high jump is important for lift-off as it allows the user to efficiently transfer energy. In addition, heel spikes aid greatly when the jumper makes the last four to five steps of his/her approach.